Goodbye Japan

Elliott. In the future when people ask me “What’s Japan like?” I’m not sure how I’ll answer them.

Billy. I’ve thought about that too. When people ask me I’m just going to say “I have no idea how to answer that question.”

Elliott. Right? The question is ridiculous in and of itself. What someone is really asking you to do is put your experience into terms that he can understand so he can have a sense of what it was like.

Billy. It’s impossible to try.

Elliott. I think all I’ll say is “People still wear Crocs there.” I can’t comment on Japan as a whole. I can maybe comment on Beppu, but even then I can only really talk about a sliver of what it’s like in this city.

Billy. Yeah. It’s also hard to believe that we’re about to leave Japan. In some ways it feels like we just got here, but at other moments it feels like I’ve been here a long time.

Elliott. Hopefully the further away we get from our experience in Japan the better we’ll be at describing it. Right now it’s like being really zoomed in on something so you can’t distinguish what it is, but the more you pull back the more you begin to see the bigger picture. What looked like blurry colors and indistinct shapes turns out to be an orange when viewed from a distance. You know what I mean?

Billy. I do. But I am really hurting for some Pocari Sweat right now man, let’s go to a Lawsons or something.

3 thoughts on “Goodbye Japan”

Luckily you’ll have this blog and that fabulous video of your karaoke to prod your memory (and keep you honest!). From where I”m standing, Japan was a wonderful beginning. @Jim: they are wise aren’t they.

Sad to leave Japan? Strange to know you may never get back there. Wonder if the Koreans have left also? And all the other passerbys. Will miss pictures of Mari who seemed like such a good sport showing you around. Can’t wait to hear if people wear Crocs in Thailand and drink sweat.